During my first visit to Alaska, way back in 2007, we’d planned to travel by train from Seward to Anchorage. If we had, there’s a good chance it would have made it’s way into the upcoming book about my Alaskan adventures, Jaspa’s Journey 4: The Hermit of Kennecott.

Seward, 2007

On that occasion we got as far as boarding the train in Seward, only to be told to disembark a couple of hours later. A landslide in the mountains had blocked the track, and we had to make trip to Anchorage by bus (which was still pretty spectacular, too be fair).

When we returned to Alaska this year, we were determined to set matters straight. And so we did, riding Coastal Classic the opposite direction from what we would have done in 2007, from Anchorage to Seward.

Here’s the photographic story of our Journey:

The Giant locomotive of the Coastal Classic

A ‘Dome Car’ with its glass roof

Leaving Anchorage in the early morning

Entering the Turnagain Arm of the Cook Inlet

Hanging off the train

Tracks alongside Turnagain Arm

Looking backwards along the train towards the Cook Inlet

Upstairs in our Dome Car

I wonder why it’s called the Coastal Classic?

The mouth of Turnagain Arm

The white blob in the foreground is a beluga whale!

Approaching the village of Portage

What a landscape!

A dead forest, killed by the 1964 earthquake, near Portage

The branch line to Whittier

Heading into the mountains

Just one of dozens of waterfalls we saw along the way

Not a bad view for breakfast!

Rich just had to pop outside to get a photo without a window in the way

Climbing up the pass

A pristine lake in the mountains

Believe it or not the red things in the stream are salmon heading upstream to spawn

The narrowest stretch of our journey

One of several eagles we saw along the route

Entering Seward

Expand the minds of you and your children by travelling the World with Jaspa’s Journey adventure novels! The first three – The Great Migration, The Pride of London and Jaspa’s Waterloo – are now available in both paperback and ebook formats. Click here for more information.